1) This draft is going to take a while to complete, but please be considerate in terms of helping it move along. Everyone will have 24 hours to be on the clock, but we obviously want to make more than one pick a day. There are 4 moderators involved in the draft, so if you know that you won’t be able to be online and you’re going to be on the clock soon, please PM one of us a couple of players that you’re considering drafting so we can make the pick for you. If you don’t make your pick within 24 hours of the last pick, the next person will be on the clock and you can make your pick whenever you show up.

2) Games will be simulated on www.whatifsports.com , and players will be simulated based on their 4th best season. Each player is given a “salary” by the simulator, which is essentially the equivalent of a single, all-encompassing rating. Therefore, the 4th best season will be determined by the player’s 4th highest salary/rating. If you want to compare players on their site you have to join it. It’s free.

3) I’ve done this before, it was a lot of fun, and I thought the simulator was very good. I would encourage you to try to build a team that actually makes sense rather than slap 20ppg players together. The simulator accounts for multiple skills sets and just like in real life, there’s more than one way to win.

***HOW TO RESEARCH PLAYERS ON WHATIFSPORTS***

1) Go to www.whatifsports.com
2) Sign Up for a Free Account
3) Go to Sim Leagues > Basketball > Get a New Team
4) On this page you should see an option for full season leagues which cost money and then below an option that says, "Exhibition Season: FREE!".
5) Click on this option and press continue. This should allow you to draft a free team and all the search functions that the site incorporates.

Draft Rules

1) If you don’t pick within 24 hours of the previous pick, the next person is on the clock. You can pick whenever you show up, but you may have fallen a few draft spots.

2) Players must have played at least 4 seasons in the NBA to be draft eligible.

3) Any seasons in the ABA or any other non-NBA leagues will NOT be eligible for determining a player’s 4th best season.

4) Trading is allowed.

Draft Notes

1) For some reason, George Mikan's 1951 & 1952 seasons aren't included on WIS. This makes his 4th best season the 1956 season, which was by far his worst year as a pro. His '51 & '52 seasons were arguably his two best seasons.

As a result, I will be simulating Mikan based on his second best season.

Is there a way to access a player database by position rather than by team on their site? For those who've done this before, what site(s) do people use to assess historical player stats, etc?

You can't really do that on whatifsports.com without having a premium membership, which costs $10. IMO, the best/easiest to use place is www.basketball-reference.com, when it comes to historical stats. They also have a player rater that's voted on by fans that might be useful as a reference. (although there's a bizarre anti-Kobe campaign by some folks, who "down vote" him because they hate him. Last I saw he was the 277th ranked player in history. ...but outside of him it's a decent guidelines for prevailing opinion)

Linda...do you know how to unlock this forum, or does that have to be Ex, LC, or DB? Mods are the only ones who can post in it right now.

I'm #2!!!! I really don't know what to do. I have to think about the rules and figure out who is worth a damn. I've never played this kind of game before._________________LakersGround's Terms of Service

Next week is horrible for me, and I may not be on the Internet much. GT, I can just send you my list of top 50-players or 100 or whatever, and you can just pick for me based on that if I cannot make it?_________________Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

Next week is horrible for me, and I may not be on the Internet much. GT, I can just send you my list of top 50-players or 100 or whatever, and you can just pick for me based on that if I cannot make it?

Next week is horrible for me, and I may not be on the Internet much. GT, I can just send you my list of top 50-players or 100 or whatever, and you can just pick for me based on that if I cannot make it?

Of course.

_________________Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

Not in love with some of these defensive numbers. Wade has had a 100 def rating three times? Cooper never had a defensive rating above 90... Same goes for 3x DPoY Dwight Howard. Chris Paul with the same def ratings as Rondo? Bill Russell with a D rating in the 70s for most of his career?

Yeesh. Going to have to do a lot of research on this site to make my picks, because they don't seem to follow reality with some of their ratings._________________Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

Not in love with some of these defensive numbers. Wade has had a 100 def rating three times? Cooper never had a defensive rating above 90... Same goes for 3x DPoY Dwight Howard. Chris Paul with the same def ratings as Rondo? Bill Russell with a D rating in the 70s for most of his career?

Yeesh. Going to have to do a lot of research on this site to make my picks, because they don't seem to follow reality with some of their ratings.

yeah I had noticed that. too. Was ranking Dwight and Bill Russell. There's more stuff too which makes this interesting.

Not in love with some of these defensive numbers. Wade has had a 100 def rating three times? Cooper never had a defensive rating above 90... Same goes for 3x DPoY Dwight Howard. Chris Paul with the same def ratings as Rondo? Bill Russell with a D rating in the 70s for most of his career?

Yeesh. Going to have to do a lot of research on this site to make my picks, because they don't seem to follow reality with some of their ratings.

yeah I had noticed that. too. Was ranking Dwight and Bill Russell. There's more stuff too which makes this interesting.

Where are the stats that are being used at?_________________I guess I just miss my friend.